Socialist strategy has long been split between reformism, the idea that the capitalist state can be taken over and incrementally made better, and revolution, the idea that the state must be smashed to create socialism. Marxists uphold the latter view. The state is not a neutral tool that can be employed for good, but an instrument of class rule.
Over the month since Charlie Kirk’s death, nearly all political stripes have condemned political violence. Meanwhile, Trump has declared war. But while many believe political violence is alien or a threat to capitalist democracy, both state and extra-state violence are baked into this system — and most often committed by the right.
Socialist Horizon, Firebrand, the International Socialist League, and Socialist Alternative (Australia) met to discuss our views of the revolutionary party and how to build it. While the political situation is dire, the No Kings rallies and resistance to ICE demonstrate an appetite for struggle. Building revolutionary socialist organization today is a crucial contribution to building on that struggle.
Karl Kautsky’s grandson John told a very revealing anecdote about attitudes towards his grandfather in the 1960s. He recalled a historian named Georges Haupt, who had many discussions among students about the history of the Second International. During those talks,...
According to the dominant view on the broad liberal-left, to achieve progressive change we must elect officials with progressive politics. Liberalism claims we can eliminate the problems inherent in capitalism without eliminating capitalism itself, and by using the...
Marxism represents a complete and vigorously materialistic world-view. A complete world-view differs from an eclectic one in that each of its aspects is connected in the closest way with all the others, and therefore one cannot with impunity eliminate one of them and...
Dear Natalia and Tempest comrades, I am writing here in response to your article, “The blush is off the rose.” Some of your assessments are spot on. I disagree sharply with others. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is clearly in decline and has been...
Earlier this month, I attended Socialist Alternative’s Socialism conference in Sydney. For readers outside Australia, I’m referring to the Australian Trotskyist organization (which was a cousin of sorts to the ISO in the US before the latter disbanded), and not the...
We have enacted a policy prohibiting our members from holding dual membership in our organization and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). This policy is based on our commitment to working-class independence and revolutionary socialism, because we understand...